Cold Blue Eyes, Bright White Feathers
by Planeswalker
Summary: Sarah has a Granddaughter that is tempted into the Labyrinth by Jareth's son. (he's not too bad looking either ^_~) And don't worry! I haven't forgotten to include everybody's favourite Goblin King! ~*COMPLETE*~
1. Come home... To The Labyrinth...

In this chapter, we discover that this story does not centre around Sarah, but Sarah's Granddaughter, who also happens to be named Sarah O.o Yeah.

*Sexy new character* 

Let me put it this way:

What is Jareth had a son? 

A reaaaaaaaaally good-looking one? 

A reaaaaaaaaally good-looking reaaaaaaaaally evil one?

That's what I thought too. ^_^

The action's gonna pick up in chapter 2.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth or any of the characters from the movie, but I do own Sarah's Granddaughter (Sarah), and I own Jareth's son. But I own nothing else. 

  
  


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_~*Sarah swung around in the complete blackness as she heard the voice of a man behind her again. It spoke with silken assurance._

_"Will you come away Sarah? Come away... come home... to the Labyrinth..."_

_"I- I don't know." she answered. _

_There was a rustling behind her and she turned again to see what it was. A brilliantly white snowy owl flew out of the dark and straight for her face. She backed away and covered her face with her arms, but then she tripped and fell backwards off of the cliff that had suddenly appeared behind her. She screamed as she fell into the shadowed void. All she could see was the owl sitting at the top of the cliff, staring sadly down at her with its startling blue eyes. Just as she was about to hit the bottom, everything went dark.*~_

Sarah sat straight up in bed and bit down on her bottom lip to hold back the scream. Her light summer nightie was soaked through with beads of sweat. In all her seventeen years, she'd never had a dream repeated so many times or so realistically.

"That stupid dream again." she whispered to herself while pushing a wayward strand of long brown hair away from her face. She over at the clock, it read 12:58. "I'll never get back to sleep now. I might as well read." 

Sarah leaned over and picked up her old weathered copy of 'The Labyrinth'. She treasured that little red book above all the other things she owned. It had belonged to her Granny Sarah, the woman she had been named for. She changed her mind and then set the book back down next to the picture of her Grandmother, Mother, and herself. It wouldn't do her much good to read the book that had probably caused the dream. 

She picked the picture up and sighed. There were only two people left in this picture now. Her Mother wasn't one of them. She lived with her Granny Sarah. It broke her Grandmother's heart that her Granddaughter had to go through the same pain she had when she was younger. Granny Sarah's mother had also died leaving her with only her Father and Stepmother. 

Her own parents had gone out one night, leaving her with her Grandmother. There was a phone call around midnight letting the elder Sarah know that her daughter and son-in-law had been killed in a car crash. 

She put the picture back down and a shiver ran up her spine as she remembered the voice from her dream.

"Will you come away Sarah? Come away, come home, to the Labyrinth." she whispered to herself. She began sifting through the contents of her bedside table drawer for her diary. On the cover was pictures of the knights of the round table and a great castle in the distance. She opened the diary and wrote down the line from her dream. She re-locked the diary and replaced it in the drawer. She thought of going back to sleep, but there was no way she could now, she was far too awake from the dream. Sarah got out of bed and pulled on her housecoat. She walked over to the balcony of her room. Granny Sarah told her this is the room where Great-uncle Toby had slept in his crib as a baby. She opened the windowed doors to the balcony and strode out into the humid summer night air. A voice called up from the front porch.

"So you couldn't sleep either little one?" Sarah smiled.

"That's right Granny." Sarah ran down the stairs and out onto the porch where she sat down in one of the wicker chairs with her Grandmother. "I've been having the strangest dream lately. It's been keeping me awake at night."

"Tell me about it dear."

"Well it stars when I'm in the dark. There's complete blackness all around me and then there's this voice. It's asking: Will you come away Sarah? Come away, come home, to the Labyrinth. And then this white owl flies out of the dark and I fall off a cliff and the owl is watching me fall with the saddest eyes. And then I wake up." The elder Sarah looked very shocked by the recounting of the dream.

"What's the matter Granny?" Granny Sarah swallowed almost nervously.

"What colour were his eyes dear?" she then asked softly.

"They were bright blue." Granny Sarah frowned and began to mutter to herself.

"Then it can't be him. One was brown. But then who is it?"

"Pardon Granny? How do you know it's a him?"

"Nothing darling." The younger Sarah frowned, but then ignored the odd comment.

"It's just like the Goblin King Grandma. Isn't that the coolest? I wish I could go to the Labyrinth and meet the Goblin King." she grinned. "I bet he's sexy." 

A look of alarm came onto the Grandmother's face.

"No you don't!" Sarah was a bit surprised by her Grandma's outburst. She was usually quiet calm. She hadn't seen her looking this distraught since the night she heard about her parent's death. "You do not want to meet the Goblin King dear. Trust me. He is handsome, but-" she stopped herself when she noticed where the conversation was going. "Just be careful what you wish for young one. It may come true." Sarah stared in quiet puzzlement.

"Grandma... what do mean he is handsome?"

"I just, imagine he'd be quite handsome, that's all."

"Alright then. I'm going to try to go back sleep. See you in the morning Granny."

"Of course darling." Sarah went back inside and up to her bedroom. She crawled under the covers and fell finally into a dreamless sleep.

  
  


**** 

Sarah spent the next day dreading what she would see when she closed her eyes at night, but by the end of the day she almost longed to hear that soft voice speak to her again. 

"Goodnight Grandma." she called down the stairs to where her Grandmother was reading.

"Goodnight darling. You tell me if you have any more dreams, alright?"

"Of course Grandma." she yelled back. Moments after she lay down, she fell asleep.

  
  


___~*She stood in the dark. This time she was more aware then the other times she'd had the dream. This time she'd been expecting it. Then the voice spoke._

_"Will you come away Sarah? Come away... come home... to the Labyrinth..." Sarah went to turn around._

_"Don't you remember what happens when you turn around?" _

_"Who are you?" She asked. The owner of the voice paused._

_"What if Jareth had a son?" now Sarah paused. _

_"Who is Jareth?"_

_"How can you not know?"_

_"Why do you answer my questions with questions?" Now the owner of the voice was so close to Sarah, she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck._

_"How can you speak in answers when you don't know them all?" Sarah exhaled loudly in frustration._

_"So you can't answer my questions?"_

_"Did I say that?"_

_"So you won't?"_

_"Did I say that? Have you considered you're not asking the right questions?" That last sentence seemed vaguely familiar to Sarah somehow._

_"Okay then. Can you answer my questions?"_

_"Can you walk? Can you breathe?" She felt the owner of the voice's lips brush softly against her right ear at the last word. _

_"This isn't a grammar lesson." _

_The man laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her waist._

_"Will you answer my questions then?" she asked. She was surprised at how familiar his arms seemed._

_"As many as I know the answers to."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"Jareth's son, Garred."_

_"Who's Jareth?"_

_"You know him well. Try looking in your little red book." Sarah drew her brows together in confusion. _

_"Okay... why do you want me to go to the Labyrinth?"_

_"As you can see, I am quite taken with you Sarah."_

_"Is there any more to it then that?"_

_"What do you think?" he whispered in her ear. There was a break in the conversation while Sarah searched for her next question._

_"Can I can I cross between the worlds if I want to?"_

_"At a price."_

_"Which would be?"_

_"That which you value above all else." Sarah assumed he meant her copy of 'The Labyrinth'. _

_"Hmm. Can I ever have it back?"_

_"If you can reach the centre of the Labyrinth within thirteen hours."_

_"That's not very creative." The man laughed._

_"But that's how things are done." There was a long silence in which Sarah just grew comfortable in the stranger's arms. "Will you come away Sarah? Come home... to the Labyrinth." The man kissed Sarah softly on the cheek. She caught his wrists and spun around._

_"Ha!" she cried in triumph. Surprise danced in the man's bright blue eyes as his lips began to curl into a seductive smile._

_"So now you have seen me."_

_His blonde hair flew wildly about his face and into his icy blue eyes. His handsome features were sharp and defined as the owl he could become. He wore a loose black shirt as silky as his voice could be and black pants to match. A cloak with a raised collar was flung loosely over his shoulders. "Now I have to go." He turned away from her, and then suddenly, in his place was the owl. Sarah was no longer afraid of him though. She let the owl fly up and land on her arm._

_"I'll think about it." she said gently while stroking the soft feathers. The owl lifted off into flight, scratching her arm, and leaving three parallel talon marks. Then the ground fell away beneath her and she watched as the owl flew away into the complete black.*~_

  
  


Sarah awoke feeling quite rested even though the clock on her bedside table told her it was 12:59. She had to tell this to her Grandma. She walked quietly to her Grandmother's room and shook her awake.

"Granny, I had the dream again." Her Grandma opened her eyes quickly and asked her Granddaughter even faster;

"Was it the same?"

"No. I asked him who he was. Gramma, do you know who Jareth is?" the old woman paled.

"Why? Was it Jareth?"

"No. He said he was Jareth's son." The Grandma pushed herself into a sitting position.

"When did Jareth have a son?"

"I don't know Granny, I don't know who Jareth is. Who is he?"

"He's the Goblin King." Sarah laughed.

"No, really Granny, who's Jareth?"

"I told you." she said with a look of dire seriousness on her face. "He's the Goblin King." Sarah sank slowly to the floor.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes I am. Did he ask you again?"

"Yes." 

"And you said no?"

"I didn't say yes." the older woman breathed a sigh of relief.

"If he ever comes back. Don't say yes. You don't know what he'll put you through. I went to the Labyrinth Sarah. I wished to Goblin King would take Toby, and he did. I barely made it, but I destroyed him."

"Granny... are you sure you didn't imagine all of it?" Granny Sarah looked insulted.

"I'm not a senile old woman. I know what happened. Have you even seen your arm?" Sarah looked down at her arm which bore three, shallow but bleeding, talon marks. She gasped.

"Was it real then?"

"In a way. Beware child, he's marked you as his own. But his powers are only so strong. He can't take you unless you say yes."

"But Gramma, he's willing to let me come home if I give him my copy of The Labyrinth. I'll only go for a day or two."

"No. I forbid you. It's for your own good darling." 

"But Gramma-"

"No buts. You're not going." 

"Fine then!" Sarah stormed off to her bedroom. "It's not fair!" Sarah heard Garred's gentle laugh echo throughout her bedroom. She cried herself to sleep.

  
  


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The next night, it was the elder Sarah who could not sleep.

_~*Granny Sarah stood in complete blackness._

_"Sarah... Do you remember?"_

_"I remember everything Jareth. Let me see your face." Jareth's son appeared in front of Granny Sarah, dressed completely in black. "You're not Jareth." The man's features were reminiscent of his Father's, even though they weren't quite the same, he had the same laughing eyes and devilish smile. His perfect white teeth stood out against the dark of the surroundings._

_"You're right. I'm Garred, his son."_

_"When did Jareth have a son?"_

_"About twenty of your years ago. It took him ages to be restored to his human form. You took away his immortality you know." Her eyebrows raised._

_"I had no idea he was immortal."_

_"Well he's not anymore. Sarah, will you let your Granddaughter come to the Labyrinth?"_

_"No. I'll never forget what happened to me there." His eyes gleamed frosty blue._

_"You fell in love." Granny Sarah blushed._

_"No I didn't. I was young and foolish. I destroyed your father."_

_"Yes you did. If you will not allow your Granddaughter to come, I will have to take her."_

_"You can't without her permission." she spoke haughtily._

_"What makes you think just because you told her not to come, she won't anyway?" Granny Sarah blanched._

_"You can't be serious!"_

_"No I'm not." he said as he faded into nothing. Grandma Sarah tried to move, but found she could not. He feet were as though glued to the ground. "I can't have you interfering now, can I?" his voice spoke from the night._

_"No! Let me out of here! I have to wake her up! I can't let you have her!"_

_"I'm really very sorry. I should be seeing you again shortly."*~_

  
  


The younger Sarah tossed and turned in her sleep. She had resolved that day what she was going to do.

  
  


___~*It was the black world again. Garred appeared in front of Sarah. She marvelled at how she could see him even though the dark of this empty space was so absolute. He reached out a black gloved hand._

_"Will you come away Sarah?" he begged. "Come home, to the Labyrinth." It seemed more of a command this time._

_"Yes. I'll go with you." _

_"Will you give me that which you value above all else so you can cross between worlds?"_

_"Yes."_

_Garred smiled as she took his hand.*~ _

  
  


She felt a sudden rush of wind as she found herself in an open plain with a single gnarled, dead tree. Suspended in its branches was a clock that read thirteen o'clock. 

She heard his voice resound from the air around her.

"You want her back, do you not?" 

"What do you mean, her?" Garred materialized behind her.

"Your Grandmother. That which you value above all else is your Grandmother." She turned around to face him, her eyes opened wide.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no. You can't be serious!"

"You both say that far too often."

"But it's-"

"Not fair? Life never seems to be." He pointed to the clock as it wound itself. "I also never mentioned that if you don't make it within the thirteen hours, you belong to me."

"You lied!" 

"No. You just didn't ask the right questions." Sarah took a swing at him, but her fist passed right through. "Now, now. Don't lose your temper." he leaned over and kissed her before disappearing again.

"Why you-"

"You'd better hurry Sarah. You have only thirteen hours." she stood up straight and threw her hair over her shoulders.

"This'll be a piece of cake. I've read the book. I know what to expect." There was a loud crashing noise that came from the direction of the Labyrinth as smoke rose into the red sky. "What was that?" Garred's laughter filled the air once more.

"That was the sound of the Labyrinth changing."

"What do you mean, changing?"

"Nothing in it is the same as it was before. Enjoy. Remember, the clock is ticking." 

"You... you asshole!!" There was no answer. Sarah marched off in her two piece pajamas, fuming, towards the bottom of the hill and the entrance of the Labyrinth.

  
  


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Hope you liked chapter 1. Thank-you for bearing with all the italics. ^^; Craziness.

Next chapter, Sarah wanders around and then has a run-in with Garred, and her Grandmother meets an enemy from the past, who could only be-

Well, you should know who it is.

See you soon.

Please Review. I'd really appreciate it.

Constructive criticism is also welcome.

  
  


~Planeswalker__

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Many Doors And The Goblin Ball

Whoohoo! 

Next chapter out already! It's a record! I'm home sick!

X.X

I discovered there were about a bajillion typos in the last chapter, so, oops, I'm sorry, but too lazy to re-upload the damn thing so, use your imaginations people! You know how it's really supposed to be! Figure it out!

And as for the whole blank page at the end (my sister notified me of that ^^;) my computer just does that. Even if I get rid of the blank at the end, it does it anyway.

Enjoy.

  
  


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Sarah approached the outer wall of the Labyrinth and started to walk around the edge, looking for a door. After about five minutes she sat down and began to pout.

"Why does nothing work out for me? Why??" she smashed the wall behind her in frustration. The wall behind her fell in with a loud band and a cloud of dust. 

"Oh... that worked out okay..." Sarah looked in through the opening she'd made. "I guess it's safe. Ha. As safe as the Labyrinth can be." she walked in through the entrance cautiously and when she'd decided nothing was going to fall from above or give away from below she began to walk. 

"It's just like the other Labyrinth. This pathway doesn't end. But wait! In the book, she just walked through the wall! Sarah turned to face the wall and grinned in triumph.

"Ha! See Garred! This isn't that hard!" She walked into the wall, and bruising both knees, fell backwards on her butt onto the ground only to discover the wall had indeed been solid. Garred's laughter floated through the corridor.

"Okay! I get the point! It's not the same!" Sarah picked herself up and brushed the dirt off of her pyjama pants. "That laugh is really staring to get annoying." she grumbled to herself. "I guess I have no other option but to walk." She continued down the never-ending corridor. All of a sudden, a large red blur flew past her making her hair fly into her face and her loose pyjamas flap in the wind it had caused. Then a slower blue blur flew past her. She saw that these blurs were connected to the wall. 

"What the-" another even slower yellow blur flew past, slow enough this time that she could see that it had been a door. 

"Yes!" she cried "Now I just have to catch one!"

The doors had been getting slower by progression. She waited in a ready stance until a green door flew by. She grabbed the handle and held on for dear life. The door dragged her around the corner on her heels and back the way she'd come. She realized the door was locked, and it wasn't really taking her anywhere except back to where she'd started. 

"Oh no." she said to herself as she passed her entrance to the Labyrinth, but the door kept going, and it was speeding up. The bottom of her slippers were near ruined from being dragged through the rubble on the floor. Then, as suddenly as the door had come by, it stopped sending her flying onto a rather wet and mouldy log. She stood up and saw that the green door had stopped next to the other doors she'd seen earlier. A purple door appeared and thunked into place next to the others which was followed by an orange door. She waited a few minutes, but no more doors came. She wiped off her slime covered pants and tried her best to compose herself.

"You could have at least let me get dressed!" there was no laughter this time. "Hmm. I guess Garred has better things to be doing then watch me." still no answer. 

"Okay, he's gone. Now which door? There's no pattern to this at all!" she opened the red door, there was nothing but brick behind it.

"Oh crap. Please let these things lead somewhere!" she opened the yellow door, just more mouldy brick. She opened all the doors in succession, but there was just wall. 

"Things aren't always what they seem, right? Maybe I'm not opening them right, like I didn't ask the right questions, I'm just not opening the right doors." Then she saw the connection. "Yes! Now I get it!" 

She opened the red door, then the blue door, and when she opened the purple door, it was indeed and open door leading to what seemed a giant hedge maze. 

"In your face Garred!!" she walked through the door, and then discovered that there was no ground beneath her, and fell.

  
  


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"Oh come Garred, that was hardly necessary."

"Father, leave me alone. She's mine to play with."

"Yes, of course." Jareth walked away from his son who was gazing intently into a crystal. Jareth walked over to Granny Sarah who was sitting in a chair with her arms crossed, glaring at Jareth.

"You remember me, don't you Sarah?"

"How can I forget? You kidnapped my brother and sent me through an awful Labyrinth. Then, then I destroyed you Jareth, do you remember that?" Jareth's eyes clouded over.

"How can I forget?" There was a momentary silence.

"How is it you haven't changed Jareth? You look the same as the last time I saw you."

"I was wondering when you would ask that. My son granted me some of my old powers. But they are nothing close to being what they were before. I have my old appearance, but I'm just as old as you are, most likely older. How would you like that Sarah? To be young again?" Jareth swept a hand over Sarah, and as he held up a mirror she saw that she looked exactly as she had when she was fifteen. She ran her hand through her long brown hair in amazement.

"I... it's..." Her face suddenly returned to Granny Sarah's. Jareth threw the mirror across the room. It hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces before evaporating.

"But I'll not grant you that." he said venomously. "If you had said yes to me, so many things could have been different. You could have been young forever." Sarah sat it shock, playing with the end of her brittle grey hair. Then she regained her composure.

"If I had to redo that day, I would do the same thing that I did last time. My brother was worth it. I don't know why you've pulled my Granddaughter into all this, but please, just let her go." Jareth smiled and adjusted his black cape on his shoulders.

"I have had no hand in this. Revenge is sweet, but none of this was my idea." he pointed over to his son. "He's quite smitten by your little Sarah. He'll do everything in his power to make her his forever." She watched Garred gaze into the crystal with a look of utter adoration on his face.

"Did you ever care for me that way Jareth?"

"Once, but I began to lose interest in you as the Labyrinth went on. You had better hope that Garred does not lose interest in your little Sarah. He's not as lenient I was." The previous Goblin King smiled as he walked back over to Garred to watch the crystal.

"My, my." he whispered to his son as he watched the younger Sarah pound the walls of the oubliette and swear. "You've chosen quite a little fighter. I believe her temper is what may do her in though."

Tears welled up in Granny Sarah's eyes as she watched her Granddaughter fight for her life.

"Perhaps I should pay her a visit soon." Garred picked up his crystal and left the room in a great rush of blood-red cloak.

"Now Sarah, you can only imagine what he's going to do to her. Maybe it's more dangerous if he doesn't lose interest in her." he mused, and then left Granny Sarah alone with her thoughts.

  
  


**** 

  
  


"There's got to be some way out of here, that just how it works. There's always a way out, it's just usually well hidden, that's all." Sarah had been searching the walls, floor and even the ceiling of this small darkened room for a way out for what seemed like ages.

"That's it!!" she yelled kicking the wall. "I can't stand this stupid shitty place! It's too God damned hard!! It was easier for my Grandma! It isn't-" 

"Fair?" a voice behind her asked. Sarah turned around to face Garred who stood in black pants and a blood-red cloak with a raised collar, making him seem the epitome of the dangers of the Labyrinth. "I really am getting tired of hearing that Sarah. What's the matter? You can't find you way out of my oubliette?"

"No," she answered through clenched teeth. "I can't." He walked closer to her and brushed a stray strand of brown hair away from her deep brown eyes.

"Or is it that you just won't?"

"I can't!" she yelled, backing away from the Goblin King. "It's all so stupid! As soon as I think I'm getting somewhere, I find myself stuck in a hole in the ground!"

"What else is wrong?" he asked sincerely. Sarah raised her eyebrows at the King so high they threatened to disappear into her hairline completely. She frowned again.

"Why should you care? You're the one who stuck me here! I mean, just look at me! I'm covered in mould and dirt, and... and hell! I'm wearing only my pyjamas!"

"Do all the people from your world complain and swear as much as you?" Sarah reddened.

"Probably not." she mumbled. "Now can you just leave me alone so I can get to the castle and get-" Sarah looked around to see she was back in the open air, out of the oubliette, and Garred was gone. "-my Gramma back?" she finished belatedly. She looked down to see herself wearing a pair of baggy black jeans, black running shoes and a blood-red tank top. "Oh great," she muttered "now we're colour coordinated." she cringed. "But I won't complain, because anything is better then what I was wearing before." Sarah spotted the Goblin City in the distance. "I'm on my way Gramma."

Sarah marched towards the castle for what seemed like hours, but she didn't seem to be getting any closer at all. She scanned the horizon for the castle which seemed to be going farther away at each step she took. She turned around to look behind, and bumped straight into a black haired guy that looked about her age. She screamed in surprise and then fell over backwards.

"Here. Let me help you up." The boy reached down and pulled Sarah up by the wrists who was still kind of shocked that there were others in the Labyrinth.

"Are you from, Earth?" she asked. The boy stared at her like what she said made no sense.

"Where else would I be from if I'm stuck in this stupid place? I'm actually from jolly old England." he spoke dryly. "Why are you here?"

"That's what I was going to ask you." The boy blushed.

"It's really rather stupid actually. I was reading Labyrinth and mocking the Goblin King. Then he actually showed up and I dared him to take me to the Labyrinth and let me solve it because it looked so simple. So he did. Not too long ago, I was almost there, and there was this huge crash, and then I was almost back at the beginning again. How about you?"

"I asked the King to take me here. He kind of likes me." The boy stared in disbelief and slapped his palm to his forehead.

"Oy. And I thought I was in a load of trouble. Do you have thirteen hours?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I did, though I shouldn't have much time left now. But the last clock after the crash told me that I have most of my time back. It must be because you showed up."

"Guess so. My name's Sarah. So what's yours?"

"Gus," he shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. We'd better get going though, we'll be out of time before we know it." Sarah started to walk towards the castle, the way she'd been going before she'd run into Gus.

"Don't go that way, it'll get you nowhere." Gus pointed to a castle on the opposite horizon. "That's the one we need to go to." Sarah started off after Gus, but then stopped.

"How can I trust you? I just met you. You could be some goblin in disguise for all I know."

"Maybe I am." Sarah stopped walking.

"Why would you even say that if you want to gain my trust?"

"Keep your knickers on girl. I was only joking. Come on, let's go."

"I don't know." He turned to face her.

"You're so pathetic. Don't you want company at all? Two heads are better then one Sarah."

"Yeah, but, you could be Garred in disguise!"

"Didn't you say the fellow fancies you? Wouldn't I be all coming on to you if I was him?"

"I guess so, maybe."

"Now let's go, the clock is ticking." Sarah paused, but then decided it might be best to have some company.

"Alright. I'll go with you."

"Good." he said aloud, but then whispered to himself so that Sarah couldn't hear, 

"If that Goblin King chap is fond of her, this could make my trip to the castle a lot easier."

Garred watched from the topmost branches of a great oak as the two companions walked beneath him.

"If you get too close boy, I'll make sure you never reach the castle alive."

  
  


****

  
  


"We're going in circles Gus. We've gone past that set of bronze doors three times now."

"I told you, they're not the same doors." 

"Yes they are, watch." Sarah pulled out a branch of a nearby hedge and jammed it between the doors. When she reached into the hedge, it had reopened one of her cuts from the owl. 

"You're bleeding Sarah." said Gus with some concern in his voice. Sarah eyed him suspiciously. 

"I know. Now walk with me." They walked completely straight until they came to a set of bronze doors with a branch jammed in between. "See?"

"Alright. So they're the same doors."

"Why don't we go into them?"

"Last time I went into those, there was a crowd of little goblins with nippers. They chased me for I don't know how long." Sarah sighed. 

"Yes, but everything has changed, and besides, you can see the castle clearly from beyond those doors. We can't go back, because our entrance has disappeared." Gus swayed from side to side slightly, contemplating.

"Alright." he threw open the large bronze doors. There was an open space with several more doors at the end.

"See? No nippers." she announced triumphantly.

"Yeah, yeah." Gus strode over to the doors and was about to open one when Sarah stopped him.

"You idiot! You don't just open doors in this place! Look, there's even inscriptions on them."

The door Gus had almost opened read 'As the world falls'. 

"I'm betting that's the Goblin ball. That's just wasted time."

The second door read. simply, 'Smell'.

"That has to be the bog. There's no way in hell I'm going in there."

The third read 'Asking the right questions'. 

"That's going to be the very beginning of the Labyrinth. 

The fourth read 'Everything I've done'. 

"That's going to be the castle." She opened the door. "Come on Gus." As the door closed behind them, the dust fell away from the inscription that had been above all four doors:

Let last be first and first be last and the two centre be opposite themselves. 

"I'll see you soon Sarah." a voice whispered on the breeze.

  
  


**** 

  
  


Sarah walked into a grand room with silken tapestries hanging from the walls. All around were people laughing and dancing to soft music in goblin masks. She was now wearing a long flowing gown that shone between deep red and black in the light. Her long brown hair was piled on top of her head in curls and held back with a black glimmering tiara set with a single ruby.

"Gus? Where are you?" she called halfheartedly. "Who's Gus?" she wondered to herself.

She wandered through the crowds not really caring where she went. "Where am I?" she backed into a stranger and looked up to meet his piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a red tailcoat and black pants, and high polished black boots.

"Will you dance Sarah?" she took his hands and just stared at him, trying to remember who he was. 'His arms feel so familiar' she thought 'but why?'

"Oh, so my name is Sarah. I know you from somewhere, don't I?" the stranger smiled.

"No, I don't think so. Sarah, do you believe in love at first site?"

"I've heard that one so many times." The stranger laughed as they waltzed around the dance floor. "I do believe though." she gazed adoringly into his bright blue eyes.

"Then kiss me Sarah." Sarah leaned in and kissed the stranger until she had to break away for air. 'Why does it all seem so familiar?' she wondered.

"Who are you?"

"What if Jareth had a son?" she frowned.

"Why does that name seem so familiar? Why does everything seem so familiar to me? Do you know who Gus is?"

"You're always full of questions, aren't you?" 

"Why do you answer my questions with questions?"

"How can you speak in answers when you don't know them all?" he whispered in her ear. Her opened wide as she remembered everything.

"Damn you Garred!" he smiled devilishly.

"Ah, welcome back Sarah." She pulled away from the Goblin King ran, looking for Gus.

"Gus! Where are you?" She found Gus dancing with a woman who had long red hair.

"Why hullo young lady." he said in a faraway voice. "Look! It's Charlene! I haven't seen her since, since, a long time you know." Sarah pulled Gus away from the woman. "No need to be jealous. If you wanted to dance, you should have just said so." Sarah looked around wildly for a way out. She saw a door at the far end of the room and pulled Gus along by the wrist. 

"What are you doing? Are you mad? We can't leave! This place is perfect! I won't leave Charlene!" Sarah pointed to the clock on the wall that read eleven.

"Two hours you idiot!!" A veil seemed to lift from Gus's eyes.

"What the bloody hell?! Why am I all dressed up? Why are you holding my wrist? We only have to hours left!" Gus led the way to the door and flung it wide. All the lights in the place went out and people started screaming as they walked into the black. Sarah turned back for a moment to see Garred with a sad look on his face.

"Don't you believe Sarah?" he called to her through the open door. 

Sarah turned away and slammed the door behind her.

"Yes..." she whispered to herself. "I do..."

  
  


****

  
  


That's all for this chapter folks. 

Please don't hate me and hunt me down and shoot me!!

Steph in the distance: NYAAAAAAAAAAH?!

The next chapter should be out pretty soon, I realized that even though I can't upload the next chapter until Monday, I still might find time to work on it while camping.

Again, thanks for reading, thanks for the reviews, please review this chapter too.

Next chapter, Sarah reaches the Goblin city. Is Gus as trustworthy as he seems?

Maybe...

Heh heh heh.

  
  


~Planeswalker 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Meeting True Love... Again [Final Chapte...

I'm sooooo sorry it took so long to get this out.  
I feel awful :(   
I also feel as though nobody's gonna want to read this...  
Oh well...  
For those of you who stuck around, Thank-You!!  
  
****  
  
Sarah and Gus shielded their eyes as they stumbled into the open air and bright sunlight.  
"Thank God that's over." breathed Gus. "Hey Sarah, thanks a lot for helping me out in there. I really did think it was Charlene."  
"Who's Charlene anyway?" Gus's cheeks coloured slightly.  
"Oh, she's a girl I really liked back home. I asked her on a date once, she turned me down in front of all my friends." Gus scratched the back of his head. "Really rather embarrassing when you think about it. I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this, I guess I like you." There was a bit of an awkward silence. "As a friend I mean." he added belatedly. "Well, um, we'd better get going, we have quite a bit of distance to cover, and not nearly enough time to cover it in."  
  
****  
  
Garred stalked back into his throne room and sat down with a scowl on his face. He withdrew a crystal from within the folds of his cloak and gazed into it intently. Granny Sarah took this as a good sign.  
"She's getting much too close." Garred growled to his Father. Jareth walked over and glanced into the crystal.  
"If she's getting too close," remarked Jareth with a wave of a black gloved hand, "then simply send her back to the beginning."  
"But-" began Granny Sarah.  
"Yes I know." snapped Garred. "That's not fair. That's not what I meant anyway. She's getting far too close to that Gus. She was concerned about him at the Goblin Ball."  
"She was at the Goblin Ball?" asked Sarah in concern.  
"Yes she was." Garred smirked. "She kissed me too, but that has nothing to do with anything. She was worried for the boy Gus when she couldn't even remember her own name."  
"She kissed you?" shrieked Sarah.  
"Yes she did. Now stay out of it and stop interrupting me!"  
"Excuse me! She's my Granddaughter and I deserve to know what's happening to her." Garred grinned. "Fine then. I'll tell you. She found her way to the Goblin Ball by failing to solve a simple riddle. Then she danced with me, told me she loved me and kissed me. Quite passionately I might add." Garred winked at Sarah, who stared in shock. "Then she ran away and took the Gus boy with her. Then she told me she loved me again."  
"But she was under the influence of the ball! She wouldn't have kissed you otherwise, let alone told you she loved you." Garred chuckled mirthlessly.   
"Ah Sarah. The funny part is, you're wrong. She may have been under the influence the first time she told me, but not the second."  
"But... that's not..." Garred flew from the room in a rush of black cloak.  
"I'm going to go do something about that Gus boy."  
  
****  
  
"Oh Sarah, Sarah…" whispered Jareth as he walked behind the chair where Granny Sarah sat. "Sarah, Sarah, my little Sarah."  
"What is it Jareth?" she asked in an icy tone. Mischief danced in his mismatched eyes.   
"Will you dance with me Sarah?"  
"What? No! I will not dance with you Jareth."   
Sarah looked up from her crossed arms to see people dancing all around her. She looked in a large crystal mirror next to her to see she was wearing a very familiar dress with puffed sleeves, covered in sequins. The mirror distorted her features slightly, but she could see clearly enough to see she was young again.  
"Jareth…" she spoke weakly. "Why are you torturing me?" A pair of hands on her shoulders surprised you.  
"Because I enjoy it." He whispered in her ear. No sooner had she turned around, he'd disappeared.   
"I'll not play this scene out again!" she protested, sitting down in the middle of the dance floor. The dancers evaporated in wisps of smoke leaving her sitting back in the chair in her old clothes again.  
"You're no fun luv." She was startled again. Jareth was now kneeling to her left. She looked away.  
"Do you think I want to be here? In case you do not know, the answer is No, Jareth. I want to go home with my Granddaughter. I wish this awful place would just be destroyed forever."  
"There is a way to destroy it you know." He said, now leaning against a doorframe on the other side of the great hall.   
"How then, Oh great one, would I do so?" she scoffed. He walked away through the door.  
"All you have to do," he whispered in her ear, "is open this." He dangled a delicate black bottle decorated with silver filigree and white jewels in front of her face. She looked back, trying to see the door he'd come through, but there was none. She made a grab for the bottle but Jareth pulled it back away. Granny Sarah got up.  
"Give it to me." She said in a determined voice. "Right now." Jareth chuckled.   
"If only you'd been so willing the first time you came here." Sarah blushed.  
"You know what I mean Jareth. Give me the bottle."  
"I should warn you, inside this bottle is Itsumademo-Kage. Once it is unleashed it will consume everything and everyone in the realm of Labyrinth until there is nothing left. Starting with this room and me and you."  
"Give me the bottle."  
"How can you be so sure that your little Sarah will escape the shadow's wrath?"  
"If your son loves her, he'll save her." Jareth laughed.  
"Are you really willing to forfeit both your and your Granddaughter's lives on a guess?"  
"I- well-" Sarah took a deep breath. "I know she loves him too. Why else would she have followed him this far?"  
Jareth stared deep into Sarah's determined eyes.   
"The Labyrinth has destroyed to many lives. Had we met under different circumstance, Sarah, would you have cared for me?"  
"Yes..." she whispered. Sarah looked down at her hands. The wrinkles were gone. "Jareth...?"  
"Yes luv?"  
"Let's make sure no more lives are ruined."  
  
"Of course luv." Jareth leaned down and kissed Sarah tenderly as he removed the stopper from the little black bottle.  
  
****  
  
Sarah and Gus were walking down the cobblestone path to the Goblin City when a hand reached out and pulled Sarah aside. Another hand muffled her scream as she watched Gus walk on down the path, oblivious to the fact that she'd disappeared. The hands turned Sarah to face their owner.  
"Listen to me Sarah!" Spoke Gus. Sarah's eyes opened wide, and she struggled to speak, but the hand was still clamped over her mouth. "That fellow over there isn't Gus! He isn't me, I mean. A short while back down the road, I found myself in the middle of the bush." Sarah stared, breathing heavily. "Now if I take the hand away from your mouth, do you promise me you won't scream?" She nodded her head vigorously. He withdrew his hand.  
"How can you prove you're you?"  
"I dunno. How do you want me to?"  
"I don't know either, I just really can't trust you!" he thought for a moment.  
"I didn't want to go in the bronze doors because I was afraid of the nippers." He admitted. "Will that do? Just please trust me." There was a look of pleading in his grey-green eyes. Sarah then realized that she'd never noticed that about him before. He wore a black shirt, which was presently torn, and jeans, which may have once been blue, but were now covered in dirt and blood.   
"Oh! You're bloody." She exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"  
"It's nothing… I was attacked by goblins in the woods when I appeared there."  
Sarah peeled back the bottom of his jeans, making him wince. The cut was bleeding still, and it looked fairly deep. The edges of the wound were coloured slightly green.  
"I thought at first it could have been poisoned, but I haven't felt any effects."  
"Hmmm. Gus, I have something to tell you… You know how there was a crash and you went back to the beginning?"  
"Yeah. Why?"  
"That was completely my fault." Genuine shock and confusion came onto the boy's face.  
"What?! That was your fault?? You- you- idiot!!" Sarah laughed. Gus looked about ready to choke her.  
"Okay. Now I know you're you. That was definitely a real reaction. But what do we do about Gus-who-isn't-Gus up there? He hasn't noticed that I'm gone yet." The two heard a familiar laughter in the trees behind them.  
"Yes I have." Said Gus-who-wasn't-Gus. A malicious glint shone in his bright blue eyes. He walked around behind a great oak, and when he came around the other side, he was Garred. "You caught up more quickly then I thought little boy." Gus fumed. He then threw his head back proudly.  
"I'll never be defeated by you. These challenges are all so easy. I was attacked by more of your little goblins, but I fought them off using nothing but my fencing technique and a stick. I am the best fencer London England has ever seen." Garred smiled.   
"So you fence, do you?" Sarah looked around her in awe. They were suddenly in an arena, the crowd full of thousands of cheering goblins. The two men had rapiers in their hands.  
"I, Gustav Andrew Dalwood, challenge you," began Gus, "to a duel for the Lady Sarah."  
"Conditions being?"  
"The only condition is that we fight to the death." Stated Gus.  
"No!" cried Sarah. "You don't know the powers he has! He's going to kill you Gus!"  
"En garde, Goblin King!" Gus held his sword at the ready.  
"Anytime, boy." The two fighters circled each other cautiously, eyeing each other's movements. Garred made the first charge, thrusting for the neck, Gus dodged easily and scratched the King's right cheek with the tip of his rapier.  
"Aha! First blood!" he cried triumphantly. "Soon to be your last."   
Garred turned and thrust again, but Gus parried with ease.   
"So you take up the offensive, eh?" Suddenly, a look of anguish contorted the young fencer's features. He sank to the ground in pain. The cut on his leg had reopened and was bleeding, but that wasn't real issue that troubled him. The cut was swollen to about twice its normal size.   
"Ah. I see the poison has begun its course. It will slowly paralyse every part of you, starting with the first afflicted area, and as it goes, it will feel as though you're on fire."   
Garred chuckled to the boy on the ground. "That's not even the best part. You won't be able to move a muscle, but through this entire pain, you'll be kept alive. The last thing it affects is the heart. When your heart stops, you die. There is no cure."  
"H- how long until that happens?"  
"About three weeks. But you won't live that long, because I'm going to kill you right now." The crowd cheered as Garred raised his sword to behead the boy. As the blade descended, Gus rolled out of its way. He stood up shakily and held out his own weapon.  
"I- I'll never b- be defeated by you." And on the last word, Gus ran himself through and fell to the ground in a heap.   
"No!" cried Sarah, leaping from the stands and running over to Gus. She pulled the fallen fighter onto her lap. "Gus? Why did you do that?" He chuckled quietly, but then stopped as he began to choke on his own blood.  
"I was d- dead anyway."  
"But… He could have been bluffing!" she said in weak protest and the arena faded from around them. They were back on the road.  
"Not ab- bout the him k- killing me part Sarah. It's b- better this way."  
"But Gus-"   
"Shhh." He whispered, putting a finger to her lips. He smiled. "I liked you b- better then Charlene y- you know." All expression fell from his face as his eyelids fluttered slightly as his head lolled to the side.  
"Gus?" she whispered quietly. "Gus?" Sarah's lower lip trembled as she slid Gus from her lap and stood up unsteadily to face Garred.   
"Why did you do this Garred?"   
"I didn't want any competition." Sarah trembled with rage.   
"Any competition?! What makes you think I liked him as anything more then a friend? What makes you think that I could love a man who killed my friend?"   
The Goblin King faltered.  
"I- you don't admire me?" Sarah's brown eyes were hard.  
"No."  
"Not in the least?"  
"No."  
"Well I can't bring him back. That boy was doomed because of the poison, you know. It wasn't my plan to have him attacked. There was no way he would have lived anyway."  
"I can't trust you." She stated simply.  
"Sarah, please. Just let me love you. I- I'll do anything! You know I can! I'll give you the stars if you want them!" Garred began to look desperate.  
"Pretty words for a murderer."  
"I didn't plan on killing him! He's the one who stated the conditions, not me!"   
"You were going to behead him."  
"Don't you think that would have been a kindness Sarah? He was going to suffer. Even I can't cure that poison once it's in someone's system. A quick and painless death was the best he could have asked for at the moment." Tears began to spill down Sarah's cheeks as she realized what he said was true. "Would you have let him suffer Sarah?"   
"I- I-" she began sobbing uncontrollably. "He was my only friend in this place."   
"I know Sarah." Garred held her in his arms, as she buried her face in his chest and nestled closer to him, finding her greatest enemy her only comfort now. He ran his hands through her soft hair. "Shhhh. It's okay Sarah. It'll all be okay." Sarah stopped crying and pulled away in embarrassment.  
"I shouldn't be letting you comfort me."  
"Just please let me love you Sarah." Pleaded the Goblin King.  
"I-I-" Sarah was but off by a loud rumbling. It was coming from the castle. Garred swung around. The castle had turned completely black, and the black was spreading. He paled.  
"Oh no, no, no! What have you done Father??"   
"What is it?"  
"My Father has released the Itsumademo-Kage."  
"The what?"  
"Translated, it roughly means 'forever-shadow'. It's an evil spirit that was housed in the recesses of the castle. My Father has released it."  
"But what will it do?" Garred looked grim.  
"It will eventually destroy the Labyrinth." Sarah was shocked to imagine the beauty of the Labyrinth all gone. Sure, it was dangerous, but there were so many lovely places. The castle was already gone.   
"Oh my God! My Grandmother was in the castle! Is she..."  
"I'm afraid so Sarah. We had better get going. We have about fifteen minutes before it reaches where we are now and about five hours before it catches us." Garred held out his hand. "Sarah, take my hand. I can bring you to a safe place."   
"No!" she cried, turning away and running towards the castle. "I have to save my Grandmother!"  
"Sarah! Don't go!"  
  
****   
  
Sarah ran down the path towards the castle.  
"I'm coming Gramma!" cried Sarah with tears in her eyes. Garred appeared in front of her so abruptly she ran straight into him. She would have fallen over excepting Garred had taken her by the shoulders.  
"Listen to me! Your Grandmother is gone! There's no saving her now! Let's go Sarah."   
"No!" she screeched in denial. "She can't be!" Sarah pulled away and ran down the path. She had to stop when she saw a dark wave rising in the distance. It was a wall of black skeletons, shrieking in agony. Sarah watched in the distance as one screaming goblin was torn to shreds by the vicious Forever-Shadow. It spread across the horizon. There would be no escape now.   
Sarah turned and ran back down the path. She choked back sobs as she ran for her life. She cried for her Grandmother, and for her own foolishness. She knew she would soon be no more. Sarah knew she couldn't keep up this pace forever. Her breathing was becoming increasingly short. Eventually she had to stop. She sat on the cold cobblestone pathway staring at the giant Shadow that hurtled towards her, never slowing.   
"Oh well." she whispered weakly. "It was fun while it lasted."   
A crystal fell from the sky and landed in her lap. Garred stood in front of her.  
"Take this crystal, you can wish yourself home." yelled Garred over the great wind caused by the Shadow "It's too late to get us both away now." Sarah got to her feet.  
"But Garred-!" Garred flung his arms around Sarah, protecting her in his cloak from the Shadow as it struck.   
Garred screamed in pain as he slowly disintegrated.  
  
****  
  
Sarah awoke to find herself lying in an open field. There was nothing around for miles.  
"Garred?" Her voice echoed across the empty moor. "Garred?" Sarah looked down to see the crystal in her lap. "I want to go home." she whispered to it. The world went black. Sarah felt herself lying on something soft. She stood up cautiously and groped around in the darkness until she found her bedroom light. Sarah looked down to see herself wearing her pyjamas once more.  
"Was it just a dream?" she wondered. She looked down at the bed. There amongst the blankets, was the crystal. "It couldn't have been! Oh Gramma!" Sarah ran to her Grandmother's room. It was empty and dark. "No! Oh no, no!" Sarah fell to the floor where she hugged her knees and wept for all she'd lost. Her Grandmother, her friend, her ignorance that all was fair in the world. But what else could she do?  
Suddenly, a bright light shone from the hallway, it was coming from her room.  
"Not again!" Sarah ran back to the room to find the balcony doors open. She ran out to find a man with wild blonde hair dressed in black lying on the ground.  
"Garred? Garred!" Sarah shook the man awake. The man sat up and looked around, quite puzzled.   
"Where am I?"  
"Oh Garred! You're alright! You saved me!" Sarah flung her arms around his neck with no embarrassment this time.  
"Oh my... I suppose my name is Garred then." Sarah now looked puzzled.  
"Of course it is. You saved me!"  
"I did? From what?" Sarah helped the man up from the ground where he had been sitting.  
"From the Shadow. You..." Sarah trailed off.   
'He doesn't remember... Wait, there's something about his eyes...'  
Garred's eyes, which had been a piercing and unkind blue, were now just a regular blue. The soft colour, opposing its original harshness, actually suited his face quite well. There was something else gone from his eyes as well, something Sarah couldn't define, yet she knew had existed once.  
"You don't remember me Garred?" Garred stared blankly.  
"Frankly, no. I have no idea who I am, let alone who you are." Sarah smiled.  
"Well then let's start over." she shook his hand. "My name is Sarah."  
"I guess my name is Garred." he chuckled. His blue eyes smiled down at her. Sarah gasped.   
'Oh my God... I know what it is... he's lost his immortality...'  
"What is it Sarah?"  
"I... you've lost your immorality..." Garred raised an eyebrow.  
"Alright..." There was an awkward silence. "Sarah?"  
"Yes?"  
"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Sarah smiled.  
"I've heard that one so many times." Garred laughed softly as took Sarah's hands, entwining his fingers in hers. Sarah's voice had lowered to a whisper.   
"I do believe though." Garred smiled. Not a cold, cruel, calculating smirk, but a real smile. A smile just for Sarah.  
"Then kiss me Sarah." he whispered back. Garred leaned closer to Sarah as she reached up and kissed him tenderly.   
  
****  
  
Two white owls are roosting in a nearby tree. The first almost smiles with its one brown eye and one blue upon the second, which has two brown eyes. The owls take off and slowly fade away into the night sky until they are nothing but a transparent wind through the dark trees of the street.  
  
~*End*~  
  
Thank-you to all those people who reviewed my fic.   
I hope you liked the ending. I was in the mood for fluff ^^  
Besides, I haven't given a story a happy ending for a while!  
Thanks again, I'd love your feedback.  
Or just e-mail me   
I love to talk to new people! Especially about Labyrinth! There are so few people who like Labyrinth it seems, or even know what it is... ^^;  
  
***Contest!***  
  
I don't think I've seen a Laby contest... Hmm...  
  
Topic: A GUY stumbling into the Labyrinth under unusual circumstance. Not the usual going after a loved one deal. If you want, you can give him one friend.  
Medium: Well, duh. A story. Nothing longer then, let's say, 3 chapters?  
One Other Component: (chose one or more)   
~One interesting friend must be made in the Labyrinth and/or  
~One wicked-ass flashback showing a dark past must be included and/or  
~Romance of some sort (up to you who, the sidekick, someone from the Labyrinth, etc.)   
Criteria: I'm looking for originality. I know there's a lot of really great authors out there, I just wanted to see if you'd rise to the challenge and write something outside the bounds of boring fics. Can you think outside the box? Then show me you can!  
Deadline: To be decided. It'll be in the next chapter of 'Ash, Betrayal and Bloodlust'  
  
Thanks again,  
  
Planeswalker 


End file.
